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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
LITIGATION RELEASE No. 14967 / June 28, 1996
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. NORMAN L. BROOKS, FINANCIAL
ADVISORS, INC. (d.b.a. "AMERICAN FINANCIAL ADVISORS"), AMERICAN
CAPITAL FUNDING, INC., FW ADVISORS, INC., WILLIAM F. KANE, JAMES
PAPATOLA, VICTOR G. CAMPANA, JAMES BROOKS (a.k.a. "David
Gertzinger"), KEN BOGANNAM, ADAMS FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC., ADAMS
FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., MICHAEL W. ADAMS, RONNIE LEE AWTRY, KARL
DON MILSTEAD, DONALD H. STRINGER, DAVID M. STOVER, and SAINT
CLAIR AINSLEY KNIGHT, JR. (United States District Court for the
District of New Hampshire, C.A. No. C-94-167-JD)
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission")
announced that on June 6, 1996, the Honorable Joseph A.
DiClerico, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of
New Hampshire, ordered William F. Kane ("Kane"), of Lowell,
Massachusetts, to disgorge $122,670 plus prejudgment interest in
the above-referenced action. The court previously had found Kane
liable for violations of the antifraud, securities registration
and broker-dealer registration provisions of the federal
securities laws. The court declined to impose a civil monetary
penalty against Kane based upon evidence of his financial
inability to pay.
In its Complaint filed on April 5, 1994, the Commission
alleged that Kane and sixteen other defendants engaged in a
fraudulent "boiler-room" offering of unregistered securities that
raised more than $3.5 million from more than 100 investors in 25
states. The Commission alleged that, in addition to soliciting
investors directly, Kane organized, trained and supervised a team
of telemarketers who solicited tens or hundreds of thousands of
potential investors nationwide by reading sales scripts over the
telephone. The Commission further alleged that Kane made, and
caused others to make, false statements and omissions of material
fact to potential investors, including representations that the
proceeds of the sales of the securities would be used to make
automobile loans the repayment of which was "insured," when, in
fact, most of the proceeds of the securities sales were converted
to the personal benefit of the defendants.
On October 24, 1995, Kane pled guilty to one count of
conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud based upon
the same conduct alleged in the Commission's Complaint. His
sentencing in the criminal case is scheduled for July 18, 1996.
The Commission's civil injunctive action is continuing as to
Norman L. Brooks ("Brooks"), formerly of Bedford, New Hampshire,
James Brooks (a.k.a. "David Gertzinger"), of Manchester, New
Hampshire, and Brooks' companies, Financial Advisors, Inc.
(d.b.a. "American Financial Advisors"), American Capital Funding
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Corporation, F.W. Advisors, Inc. The Commission has obtained
default judgments against each of those defendants on all issues
except the amount of monetary relief they will be required to
pay. - 2 -
The assets of those defendants are subject to a freeze order
entered by the court, and Brooks' companies are in receivership.
For more information, see prior Litigation Release Nos.
14048, 14055, 14076, 14142, 14235, 14324, 14410 and 14703.